Cockermouth is open for business! That’s the line we used endlessly after the 2009 floods, again in 2015, and it’s still true following the appalling weather of the last couple of days.
Scary scenes on social media – plus the sharing of false messages about a lack of flood defences – were doing the rounds when the rivers reached their peak yesterday.
Some people even decided to share pictures from 2009 when the town was devastated, without adequate explanation that they were historical photos, with no thought for the consequences.
It’s things like that which are so damaging for a little town like Cockermouth. We’re not a Lake District honeypot and we have to work hard to raise the profile of our lovely town.
Our independent traders rely on business from locals and visitors alike and if the rumours spread that we are under water once again, people stay away.
On some of the very touristy Facebook sites, people who don’t even live in Cumbria were advising others to cancel their plans to come to the county.
Why? Yes, some of the roads were affected, but others weren’t. Our towns and villages were still open. The vast, vast majority of our businesses were still operating normally.
Tourism brings billions of pounds into the Cumbria economy. Particularly during a pandemic, when businesses have already been hit so badly, the county cannot afford to lose that income because of falsehoods and speculation.
It’s so, so sad that not every property in Cockermouth managed to escape the flood waters. One business and a handful of residential properties found themselves pumping out water and starting the horrible clean up once again. Having lived in the town centre through the last two floods, I see the pain of having to do it all over again.
But the flood defences did their job and probably saved the town from total disaster. I hope there are other lessons to be learned and solutions to be found to protect even more properties in the future.
The Lake District only exists because of rain. Those of us who are lucky enough to live in and around this amazing landscape don’t just down tools and hide away every time the heavens open. We are careful, but we crack on.
We may not sleep well when it’s tippling down. We may check the river levels constantly and we may fear the worst, but we don’t let it stop us.
One thing is for sure, even if the damage had been more widespread, the amazingly resilient community of Cockermouth would have bounced back again. This is a town that is most definitely open for business – whatever the weather.
